Oxford Dictionary Adds 600 New Words, Some NSFKids

The Oxford Dictionary regularly releases updated editions with plenty of new words and phrases that have snaked their way into our collective vocabulary, and while many of these inclusions totally deserve a spot in the dictionary, I can’t be the only one who thinks that a handful of these belonged on the cutting room floor…

woke, adj.2 - U.S. regional and nonstandard (chiefly in African-American usage). Originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice; frequently in stay woke (often used as an exhortation).

butt pirate (sub-entry), n. – A sexual slur for gay men.

post-truth, adj. - a political environment in which discussion is erected largely by calls to emotion detached from the aspects of policy, and by the reiterated assertion of talking points to which actual rejoinders are ignored.

barebacking, n. – physical sexual activity without the use of a condom, especially male to male anal sex.

The next time your kid asks you to define something, and you respond with “I don’t know, why don’t you look it up?” keep in mind that the Merriam-Webster dictionary doesn’t include terms like “butt pirate” and “barebacker.” Just throwing that out there, parents.